School Library Journal is a magazine aimed at…school librarians. It just had a big cover ppackage on graphic novels which you can read online, started with Michelle Gorman’s overview
What a difference a decade makes. After years of fighting for shelf space in libraries and classrooms, graphic novels have finally become an acceptable alternative to their prose-packed counterparts—and kids can’t seem to get enough of them. For that matter, neither can grown-ups. In 2006, U.S. consumers dropped an estimated $330 million on graphic novels and comics, with librarians accounting for about 10 percent, or $33 million, of those purchases.
She also lists 25 core graphic novels for school-age readers. Ther package also include a giant review section, with grade-appropriate ratings and a report on the Graphic Novels Core Collection, a databse which will cost you $205-225, depending on the size of one’s library.
The Big Picture Graphic Novels Core Collection features over 2,000 recommended titles with descriptions, annotations, and cover art for some of the most popular graphic novels published. Through the WilsonWeb interface, subscribers can search the database by author, title, subject, genre, and grade level.
Annotations provide users with a brief description of the content, review excerpts, and any awards that the title has won. Ratings by age appropriateness within the entry are strictly applied, which allows librarians to quickly determine placement within the collection. Additionally, cover art displayed within each search entry can also provide insight regarding suitability.
My wife kills me with what she gets to do as a librarian! She did some thing on African comics last week with the University of Washington, has done numerous presentations on graphic novels at library conventions, and gets to read and buy graphic novels and such while she works!
Isn’t it wonderful? And my job is even better – I selected all those 2,000 titles in that HW Wilson Graphic Novel Core Collection. That means I read every single blessed one of the books in order to assign the age ratings and subject headings. I’ve done presentations at school Career Days throughout my years as a librarian, but last year, I could honestly tell the kids, “I get paid to read comics!”
BTW, Wilson adds 50 titles every month to the Core Collection; that’s also my job, to read and select the books. And this isn’t even my main job; almost everything I do, except for the part time work in my son’s school library, is connected to comics and graphic novels. For someone who has grown up loving comics practically all my life, it doesn’t get a whole lot better.
Hm, wasn’t someone the other day saying that Kat Kan is the new Brian Hibbs?
It’s good to be a librarian these days! Thanks for the plug Heidi, and for always helping the comics publishing industry see the relevance (and importance) of librarians to the general care and feeding of the industry!